1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to coverings for architectural openings such as doors, windows and the like, and more particularly to an operation, control and suspension system for a covering having a plurality of vertically suspended vanes that are movable between extended and retracted positions relative to the architectural opening as well as pivoted between open and closed positions to control visibility and the passage of light through the architectural opening.
2. Description of Relevant Art
Coverings for architectural openings such as doors, windows and the like have been known in various forms for many years. One form of such covering is commonly referred to as a vertical vane covering wherein a control system suspends and is operable to selectively manipulate a plurality of vertically suspended vanes such that the vanes can be moved laterally across the architectural opening to extend or retract the covering and pivoted along longitudinal and vertical axes to open and close the vanes.
Control systems for operating vertical vane coverings typically include a head rail in which a plurality of carriers associated with each vane are movably mounted for lateral movement and include internal mechanisms for pivoting each of the vanes about a vertical axis. The head rails vary in construction and configuration to house the various types of carriers, but typically the head rails are relatively large in cross section to enclose the working components of the system and have a slot along a bottom or side wall through which a portion of each carrier protrudes for connection to an associated vane. As such, the head rails are typically aesthetically unattractive.
An example of a control system wherein a head rail includes a slot along a side thereof through which a portion of the carriers protrudes is shown in U.S. Pat. No. 4,425,955, issued to Kaucic on Jan. 17, 1984. One problem with head rails having a slot in the side thereof resides in the fact that the slot is sometimes visible in the room in which the system is mounted and therefore is aesthetically unattractive.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,361,179, issued to Benthin on Nov. 30, 1982 discloses a head rail having an opening through the top thereof so as to improve the aesthetics of the head rail. The carriers in the control system are primarily confined within the interior of the head rail and generally C-shaped hangers associated with each carrier circumscribe the head rail so as to be in a position to support an associated vane from beneath the head rail. The Benthin patent accordingly addresses the desire of having the opening in the head rail concealed from normal view. The drawback with a system of the type disclosed in the Benthin patent resides in the fact that the carriers are primarily confined within the head rail thereby necessitating a head rail with a fairly large cross section which is in and of itself aesthetically unattractive.
A patent of interest from the standpoint of minimizing the size of the head rail is U.S. Pat. No. 2,869,636 which shows a relatively thin head rail having a slot in a rear wall thereof through which each carrier projects and wherein most of the carrier components are disposed outside the head rail. The head rail, while being relatively small, is oval in configuration with the broad side of the oval facing the interior of the room in which the system is mounted so as to undesirably present a relatively large profile.
Numerous systems have been provided for operating vertical vane coverings with such systems varying from pull cords or beaded chains to control wands or various combinations thereof. More recently, attempts have been made to consolidate the operation of vertical vane coverings into a simplified system wherein pull cords are utilized to laterally move the vanes along the head rail while an operably interconnected tilt wand is provided for pivoting each vane about a vertical longitudinal axis. An example of such a system is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 5,819,833, issued to Swiszcz et al. on Oct. 13, 1998 with this patent being of common ownership with the present application. Due to the problems in combining two diverse functions into one operating system it is difficult to devise a simplified yet dependable system.
As mentioned previously, head rails have traditionally been somewhat aesthetically unattractive and particularly when combined with vertical vanes which have also suffered from the same aesthetic drawback in that they are typically flat relatively rigid bodies with very little or no aesthetic appeal. Improvements in the appearance of the vanes themselves have been made by forming the vanes into a tubular form as disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 5,797,442, issued to Colson, et al. on Aug. 25, 1998 which is also of common ownership with the present application. While the tubular form of the vanes is an improvement aesthetically, the contrast of tubular vanes with typical square cross-sectioned head rails has also proven to be aesthetically unattractive.
As will further be appreciated, it is important in vertical vane coverings that when the vanes are drawn to one or both sides of the architectural opening, so that they are horizontally stacked along the side of the opening, it is desirable that the vanes be drawn very closely together to occupy a minimal amount of space. A well-known system for moving the vanes laterally of the architectural opening along the length of the head rail has been a pantograph that includes a plurality of pivotally interconnected links. The links need to be of a predetermined strength to deal with the weight of the covering and this strength has typically been derived at least partly through the width of the links and when the pantograph is contracted so that the links are in abutting side-by-side relationship, the width becomes critical to how closely the vanes can be stacked in their fully retracted position. Accordingly, improvements in pantograph construction could improve the stacking characteristics of a vertical vane covering.
Further, while numerous systems have been employed for suspending the vanes from the carriers of the control system for the covering, simplified systems for doing so are always desirable and particularly in a covering of the type that utilizes tubular vanes so that the tubular orientation of the vane can be maintained.
As will be appreciated, while the prior art includes many different forms of operating and control systems for vertical vane coverings as well as different configurations for head rails in which various types of carriers are movably mounted, most suffer from aesthetic drawbacks related either to the size of the head rail or the manner in which it is presented to the interior of the room in which the system is mounted and improvements in such head rails as well as the control and operating systems associated therewith have been needed.
It is to overcome the shortcomings in the prior art systems and to provide a new and improved operating, control and suspension system for a vertical vane covering that the present invention has been made.
The operation, control and suspension system of the present invention is adapted for use in a covering for an architectural opening and particularly a covering that includes a plurality of vertically suspended vanes. The vanes are suspended from carriers that are mounted in a head rail for lateral movement relative to the architectural opening and linear movement along the length of the; head rail. The carriers are somewhat confined within the head rail and project rearwardly through an opening in the back of the head rail so as to suspend the vanes from the rear of the head rail and in a unique location to improve the aesthetics of the covering. The carriers are operatively connected to a pull cord utilized to reciprocally move the carriers along the length of the head rail and also to a tilt rod, the rotation of which causes each of the vanes to pivot about a longitudinal vertical axis.
The head rail is designed so as to have a front face that inclines downwardly and rearwardly and terminates in alignment with the leading or front edge of the vanes when the vanes are in an open position perpendicular to the architectural opening. This relationship between the front wall of the head rail and the leading edge of the vanes leaves a visual impression of a continuous line along the front edge of the covering which is pleasing to the eye.
The operating system for the covering includes a tilt wand, a pull cord and a coupler that are integrated into one simplified operating system. The wand is vertically suspended from one end of the head rail and is operably interconnected with the tilt rod in the headrail such that rotation of the wand effects rotation of the tilt rod and thus pivotal movement of each vane about a vertical, longitudinal axis. The pull cord is operatively connected to the carriers for moving the carriers along the length of the head rail and extends in two vertical runs into and out of the coupler in a continuous manner so that depending on which vertical run of the cord is pulled, the vanes are moved in a desired direction along the length of the head rail. The coupler is rotatably disposed on the wand so that in operation, the coupler can be held in one hand and the wand rotated with the other when effecting pivotal movement of each vane about a longitudinal vertical axis.
The pull cord and the tilt rod extend in side-by-side horizontally spaced relationship with each other along the length of the head rail and a drive connector connects the upper end of the tilt wand to the tilt rod in a manner such that the tilt wand is aligned with the pull cord as it depends from the end of the head rail. The drive connector is mounted at an acute angle relative to vertical to properly position the tilt wand in vertical alignment with the pull cord.
The control system for the covering includes a horizontally disposed pantograph that operably interconnects the carriers in the head rail so that upon movement of the pull cord, the vanes that are suspended from the carriers move in a desired and predictable manner between retracted and extended positions across the architectural opening. In order to assure a close side-by-side horizontal stacking of the vanes adjacent one or both sides of the architectural opening when the covering is in the retracted position, the links in at least one set of links in the pantograph have been tapered along their sides so that without sacrificing strength in the pantograph, the links can be more closely positioned relative to each other when the pantograph is contracted in moving the vanes to the retracted position of the covering.
The covering also includes a unique connector for connecting the suspended vanes from the carriers with the connector being designed to not only releasably receive an upstanding tab on the upper end of an associated vane but to also cooperate with the vanes that are of tubular configuration in retaining the tubular configuration.
Other aspects, features and details of the present invention can be more completely understood by reference to the following detailed description of a preferred embodiment, taken in conjunction with the drawings and from the appended claims.